Decline in antibiotic enzyme activity of neutrophils is a prognostic factor for infections in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

We used flow cytometry to measure the activities of cathepsin G and elastase. The activity of elastase in neutrophils from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) was significantly lower than that in neutrophils from the control group (P<.001). Patients with low elastase activity were significantly susceptible to infection (P<. 05). Our study suggests that analyzing antibacterial enzymes is useful in evaluating the prognosis of patients with MDS.